diff --git a/src/client/Main.ts b/src/client/Main.ts
index 0461690d1..b163bb2a6 100644
--- a/src/client/Main.ts
+++ b/src/client/Main.ts
@@ -502,6 +502,10 @@ class Client {
       () => {
         console.log("Closing modals");
         document.getElementById("settings-button")?.classList.add("hidden");
+        if (this.usernameInput) {
+          // fix edge case where username-validation-error is re-rendered and hidden tag removed
+          this.usernameInput.validationError = "";
+        }
         document
           .getElementById("username-validation-error")
           ?.classList.add("hidden");
diff --git a/src/client/UsernameInput.ts b/src/client/UsernameInput.ts
index 3b3c24b7d..37e26dc00 100644
--- a/src/client/UsernameInput.ts
+++ b/src/client/UsernameInput.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { LitElement, html } from "lit";
 import { customElement, property, state } from "lit/decorators.js";
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid";
 import { translateText } from "../client/Utils";
-import { UserSettings } from "../core/game/UserSettings";
 import {
   MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH,
   validateUsername,
@@ -15,7 +14,6 @@ export class UsernameInput extends LitElement {
   @state() private username: string = "";
   @property({ type: String }) validationError: string = "";
   private _isValid: boolean = true;
-  private userSettings: UserSettings = new UserSettings();
 
   // Remove static styles since we're using Tailwind
 
@@ -31,7 +29,6 @@ export class UsernameInput extends LitElement {
   connectedCallback() {
     super.connectedCallback();
     this.username = this.getStoredUsername();
-    this.dispatchUsernameEvent();
   }
 
   render() {
@@ -83,16 +80,6 @@ export class UsernameInput extends LitElement {
     }
   }
 
-  private dispatchUsernameEvent() {
-    this.dispatchEvent(
-      new CustomEvent("username-change", {
-        detail: { username: this.username },
-        bubbles: true,
-        composed: true,
-      }),
-    );
-  }
-
   private generateNewUsername(): string {
     const newUsername = "Anon" + this.uuidToThreeDigits();
     this.storeUsername(newUsername);
diff --git a/src/core/validations/username.ts b/src/core/validations/username.ts
index 5d0c26b55..2096c0ae1 100644
--- a/src/core/validations/username.ts
+++ b/src/core/validations/username.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ const matcher = new RegExpMatcher({
 export const MIN_USERNAME_LENGTH = 3;
 export const MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH = 27;
 
-const validPattern = /^[a-zA-Z0-9_[\] 🐈🍀üÜ]+$/u;
+const validPattern = /^[a-zA-Z0-9_[\] üÜ]+$/u; // Don't allow more than in UserNameSchema
 
 const shadowNames = [
   "NicePeopleOnly",
@@ -123,9 +123,7 @@ export function validateUsername(username: string): {
   if (!validPattern.test(username)) {
     return {
       isValid: false,
-      error: translateText("username.invalid_chars", {
-        max: MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH,
-      }),
+      error: translateText("username.invalid_chars"),
     };
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/Censor.test.ts b/tests/Censor.test.ts
index 74f9cccc2..a937d4e71 100644
--- a/tests/Censor.test.ts
+++ b/tests/Censor.test.ts
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ describe("username.ts functions", () => {
       const res = validateUsername("Good_Name123");
       expect(res.isValid).toBe(true);
     });
-    test("accepts allowed Unicode like 🐈 or ü", () => {
-      const res = validateUsername("Cat🐈Üser");
+    test("accepts allowed Unicode like ü", () => {
+      const res = validateUsername("Üser");
       expect(res.isValid).toBe(true);
     });
   });
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ describe("username.ts functions", () => {
           .slice(0, MAX_USERNAME_LENGTH),
       },
       { input: "", expected: "xxx" },
-      { input: "Ünicode🐈Test!", expected: "Ünicode🐈Test" },
+      { input: "Ünicode Test!", expected: "Ünicode Test" },
     ])('sanitizeUsername("%s") → "%s"', ({ input, expected }) => {
       const out = sanitizeUsername(input);
       expect(out).toBe(expected);